Australian Career, Employment and Training Network

Creating a Professional Presence Online

Practically every business in the world knows the importance of an online presence. In fact, you have to admit; in this day and age most people find it a bit strange when a business doesn’t have a website to talk about themselves, share their products and information and create their own personal business brand.

It’s only natural that this concept would flow over into our personal and career lives. With blogs, social networking sites, business networking sites, as well as search engine capabilities, having a personal online presence will soon be the norm. Those who choose to ignore this fact will become like a business that ignores the importance of a web presence – they will be like a fish out of water.

For employers and recruiters, this personal online presence has become a panacea for finding prime candidates. Recruiters are using search engine strategies to locate candidates before ever going to any of the online resume posting boards.

CEOs have told us that they “never” meet with a prospective candidate before Googling them, or checking LinkedIn and other online resources for background information. Professionals who create and drive their online presence are positioning themselves to attract top opportunities versus those who lag behind the scenes, only sending out a text resume when they are asked. These days that strategy just screams ‘out-of-date’ professional.

So, how can you be viewed as a leading edge professional in a fast-paced career market? How can you increase your visibility and attract opportunity?

What will give you a ‘must hire’ presence? The newest tools in career management are the Video Resume (more aptly referred to as a Video Introduction) and the professional online portfolio – or eFolio.

Creating and utilizing these powerful career tools will enable you to communicate your professional experience just-in-time to take advantage of exciting new opportunities.

Whether you’re a passive or active candidate the benefits of these new and exciting career tools are many, some of which include:

Differentiating yourself and your uniqueness – they’ll see you as a ‘must have’.

Portraying your personality, energy and confidence.

Showcasing job successes, they’ll know you are the one.

Enhancing professional exposure.

Let’s take a closer look at these cutting edge career tools. But before you read further, click on the link below to view an example of how one consultant is building her online presence:

The Video Resume

Your video resume is not your ‘resume’ by any means. It is actually a quick video snap-shot, usually less than two minutes, of who you are and what value you bring to your profession. If you’re creating a video resume then you’ve got to make sure it is ‘top rate’, enabling you to project a powerful first impression that will grab a recruiter’s attention.

This tool is too important a component of your professional eFolio to risk making it just ‘so-so’ – this is your opportunity to create a powerful first impression and engage your viewer into wanting to learn more about you and speak with you in person.

Video resumes are making their way into the mainstream, just as websites are now a mainstream component for any business.

The eFolio

Your eFolio is essentially your professional web page, your ‘link’, which contains your video resume, as well as you written resume typically located on the same page.

Viewers can listen to your video while scrolling through your resume. This page may also contain many other elements of your career life – perhaps special projects you have created, community involvement, educational background, your blog, affiliations, etc.

You get the idea, basically as much as a recruiter may want to know about you all wrapped up in a nicely packaged format.

Viewers can take in as much, or as little as they desire. This is a much handier tool than the basic two page written resume that we try to stuff all of our information onto in a seemly organized fashion.

Your eFolio can remain online at all times readily available to employers and recruiters who wish to access your information.

This allows you to be available for opportunities as they arise. If a new position opens up and a recruiter is searching the internet for candidates who fit their need they will have a far better chance of locating you if you maintain an eFolio.

Additionally, your eFolio is the link you will provide to those who ask to see your qualifications.

If you choose, you can also use your eFolio link in the signature of your emails, on your business card, through your networking sites, and much more.

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